Chapter 18 (Age 17)
"Link!" Zelda said, opening the door to his room. "No way! You're still sleeping?"
He muttered something into his pillow before feeling her weight crashing on top of him, shaking him like he was a flying through a terrible storm.
"Get up!"
He looked at her, though she was little more than a giant blur in his tired eyes. Wrapping his arms around her, he rolled so she was pinned beneath him. "You can stay here, just go to sleep," he muttered. In the near week since they'd first kissed, they'd realized that nothing about their actual friendship had changed, things had just... evolved.
Zelda tried to kick him awake, but his leg pinned hers down easily. She was actually pretty sure he'd actually managed to fall back asleep in the three seconds since she'd been in the room. She sighed against him, not in any hurry to actually get away from him, especially given that this would probably be the most privacy they'd have all day. But she had to get him out of bed. Today was not the day to laze around. "Get up! Your fate is in the air! Your life is at stake! Your competition is today! Your-"
She felt Link's lips against hers, stopping her mid-sentence. For a very long moment, she gave in and kissed him back, too taken by the feeling of his lips moving with hers before she finally managed to pull away and hit him in the arm. "No. You can't distract me. I am as focused as a Loftwing. You need to wake up!"
He chuckled and unwillingly let her go. "How late am I?"
She slid out of his arms and pulled the untucked blanket off of him, standing impatiently beside the bed."If you start moving now, you can be there right on time."
Just then, the door opened and Zelda quickly wiped her lips with her hand as if they could see proof that she'd just been kissing Link. And it was true that Pipit looked between the two suspiciously.
Zelda stepped forward and gestured to Link. "He won't wake up. He wants to fail."
That got Pipit into action. "Let's go, slacker! You're getting to that contest on time so you can get in the Sky with Karane and I, so move it!" He grabbed Link's legs and tugged until Link's head bounced off the mattress and onto the floor.
"Ow."
Pipit turned to Zelda with a triumphant smile. "He's up now."
"Good work."
"Out!" Link said, pointing to the door.
Pipit left, but Zelda bent down towards him, stealing a final kiss before they would have to move into their 'part-time' personas. "I will always win in the end, Link. And take care of your morning breath."
He scoffed at her and rolled to his feet, closing the door- and locking it- behind her. With a stretch, he leaned against the wall and closed his eyes, though not because he wanted to go back to sleep.
Master Eagus had changed the rules of graduation. Because his class was so small and mismatched in the Sparring Hall, Eagus had combined the usual sparring requirement of the graduation ceremony with the annual sparring contest that was held. It was open to everyone over a certain age, including trained Knights. For the sake of fairness, the fights were held in categories based on age so no one like Master Kos would ever go against someone like Pipit. There were 16 fighters in their bracket. Eagus was the only one who'd been pushed up an age bracket so he could watch his students rather than fighting them. This was the biggest events on Skyloft all packed into one. Everyone would be there in some capacity. Loftwing travel wasn't permitted so all Knights had the opportunity to fight.
And if he did poorly after all these years of work, he'd lose and not only be out for the rest of the tournament, but his scores would be brought down for graduation and he could be held back.
He, Groose, Cawlin, and Strich would all be starting against different opponents, but eventually, two would meet, whether they lost early or not.
Link finally opened his eyes and took a breath before grabbing the armor he'd been given for the contest. It was chainmail, simple but effective, and stronger than the armor they'd been practicing with in the Sparring Hall. They'd also provided non-active Knights with a randomly colored tunic to differentiate the contestants while they weren't fighting. His was grey.
He pulled on his boots and gloves before fastening the protective vambraces around his wrist. He didn't need anything else; weapons would be provided for them in the arena, which happened to be the center of town.
Finally, as per Zelda's suggestion, he rinsed his mouth and spit out his window.
When he opened his door to step outside, Zelda, Karane, Pipit, and Fledge were all waiting for him.
"You guys have to get there too," Link chastised, looking at Pipit and Karane especially.
"It's more important that you get there," Pipit said. "It's your graduation requirement. It's just fun for us."
Link waved them at the door. "Go. I'll meet you down there. I think I have to throw up first."
Karane made a face and grabbed Zelda's arm. "Fine. We'll go."
The four of them left and Link leaned his head on his doorframe. He hadn't felt this nervous since he'd first kissed Zelda.
Speaking of, she ran back inside and glanced up the stairs quickly before wrapping her arms around Link and pulling him down to her. They'd been keeping their relationship a secret for just over a week and took advantage of every precious, stolen moment. It never ceased to send Link into a daze. Even for the briefest of seconds, he'd be completely lost in her.
"Hey. I'm rooting for you. You've got this," she said, hurrying up the stairs. "I made some excuse to come back in, so now I have to go find something to bring back."
"Not going to root for Karane?" he called up the stairs.
Her voice was faint and distant. "Don't tempt me!"
He chuckled and headed for the door, glad he didn't wait for her when he saw Karane waiting for Zelda. If they'd come out together… well...Karane was already the most suspicious of the group. She'd figure it out, if she hadn't already.
He jogged past her and heard Zelda running to catch up with everyone. They all reached the square just as Gaepora, alongside Master Eagus, stood up to make the opening announcement.
Gaepora gave Link an exasperated look that said he'd been searching for him.
"Good morning and welcome to this year's championship. The contestants should all be here now, and will find Master Eagus in charge of their scheduled opponents. As usual for the championship, the youngest fighters will go first. This is an important year for some of them. As you may have heard, this is doubling as a scored portion of their graduation exams, rather than holding a separate event. So, see Master Eagus and prepare yourselves. Fights will begin soon. Two fights will occur at a time so we can get through them all. Let's begin!"
The youngest Knights, Link's group, were allowed through first. He, Pipit, and Karane peered over-eagerly at Eagus.
Eagus sighed. "Please don't look at me like that. Knights should probably have more dignity than that."
"I haven't graduated," Link said with a grin, maintaining his eager smile.
With an acknowledging shrug, Eagus glanced at his written notes. "Except for your class Link, everyone was randomly placed with their opponents. You were placed so you, Groose, Cawlin, and Stritch are in separate first rounds, but have the chance to fight one another in the next two." He looked up, seeing a crowd of eager fighters in front of him. "So here the first rounds. Groose versus Karden, Priya versus Cawlin, Glen versus Link, Stritch versus Pipit, Keet versus Hawke, Saffron versus Corbett, Pidge versus Karane, and Wynda versus Tirra."
"Tirra's back?" Link asked excitedly. Eagus' sister was still within their age bracket, but she was always off flying the Outer Sky.
"I am," she said, stepping forward and clasping Link on the shoulder. "You got taller since we last spoke."
"It has been awhile," Link admitted.
"Well, I hope we meet today. Good luck with your first round."
"Thank you, and you too."
She winked at him. "I don't use luck when I fight, only skill."
He laughed and backed away from Eagus to go to the weapons. The swords had flat tips and blunt edges for safety. He grabbed a sword and shield, sticking with the familiar. He knew the older, more experienced Knights liked to use this as a chance to show off their skills with the more unique weapons, but this was too important to him. Karane, Glenn and Stritch also grabbed a shield, though most of the others didn't feel like using one. They also hadn't trained with it. He'd practiced with Karane in class, so he knew that she knew what she was doing, and he'd soon find out about Glenn, his first-round opponent.
Eagus was watching carefully for both points and safety, and had enlisted the help of Master Kos, since two fights were happening at once.
Link, Zelda, Fledge, Pipit, and Karane sat together to watch the first two matches. Link was glad for the tight viewing space, since it allowed Zelda's hand the freedom to make its way into his, unnoticed by anyone else.
He tried to study everyone's movements, but even he couldn't keep up with the first two fights all at once. And he scoffed with disgust when both Cawlin and Groose won their rounds over Priya and Karden. In the next round, they'd fight each other.
Zelda's hand tightened around his quickly before letting go and moving closer to Karane and Fledge. It was time for Link and Pipit to go.
"Hey," Link called before they moved to their own places. "You'd better not let Stritch win."
Pipit chuckled and lightly rested his sword against his shoulder as he walked. "I won't."
Link strode over to Glenn and shook his hands. "Best of luck," he said.
"And to you, undergrad," Glenn said with a smirk.
Link was unfazed. That was the least insulting thing he'd ever been called.
He knew he'd need to pace himself. While he would have loved to defeat Glenn in just a few seconds, this contest was also about skill, not just winning.
"Fight!" Eagus called, once they were all in position.
Glenn wasted no time charging full-tilt at Link, shield raised protectively in front of his body while he ran. Link braced his feet and ducked at the last second, holding out his own shield at an angle to vault Glenn off to the side of the staging ground. Glenn was up quickly and went for another fast attack, presumably to try to keep Link off-guard. Link blocked Glenn's first shot with his shield and their blades clashed together.
Link was able to force Glenn's sword to the ground with his own, being physically stronger despite their age difference, and loosened it from Glenn's grasp before kicking it away.
Though, in his anger, Glenn bashed his shield up against Link's face, sending Link to the ground from the force of the impact.
Making a quick check that he still had all his teeth, Link pushed himself to his feet, wringing his jaw as he did.
"Hey! No face shots! Link, you okay?" Eagus called.
Link could feel the blood dripping down his chin, so he wiped it away, spitting some of it from inside his mouth, and nodded, waiting for Glenn to pick his sword back up.
When he did, Link stopped caring about attaining points.
Glenn had moved into a very defensive stance, sensing that Link would return with relentless retaliating attacks, angered by the cheap shot, and that's exactly what Link let him think.
Charging at Glenn with the same move that had knocked him off his feet the first time, Link saw that Glenn moved into a wider stance to keep his balance, recognizing his own move. His shield was raised and ready. But that was exactly what Link wanted.
Link slid between Glenn's wide-legged stance and rolled to his feet, slamming the flat side of his sword against Glenn's back with a bit more force than he needed. But that was a wining move: it would have been an easy kill if it had been real. Eagus stepped between them quickly when he saw Glenn's enraged expression.
"Link advances! Glenn, you are out. I'm sorry." Eagus gave Link an affectionate pat on the shoulder. "Go take care of that," he said, gesturing to Link's bloody mouth before joining Master Kos to watch the rest of Pipit's fight.
Link walked past Groose and Cawlin, both of whom were sneering. They could never do anything with this many people around, so Link pushed by them and went over to Fledge, Karane and Zelda.
Zelda threw her arms around him, but Link pulled away quickly. "Don't, don't; I'm covered in blood. How's Pip doing?"
Karane turned briefly to Link before looking back at the fight that was still happening. "He's going to win. He's going for points now. He'll definitely be your next opponent."
Zelda left Fledge with Karane to follow Link to the stream while he splashed his face and washed the blood off his mouth. They were fairly secluded. The attention was on Pipit anyway. She gently grabbed Link's chin, tilting his head down so she could see. Truly, just an excuse to touch Link, but she didn't try to fool him. "Looks bad," she said dramatically as her fingers splayed to brush more of his skin. In truth, it was already looking a thousand times better with a face clean of blood.
Link reached up and grabbed Zelda's arm, his thumb running smoothly over her skin. His eyes narrowed playfully. "Yeah?
"Oh yeah. Maybe even permanent."
Link grinned, lost for a moment in the shimmer of her gaze. So much so that it wasn't until someone cleared their throat that either noticed someone was there.
Instinctively, Link swatted Zelda's hand away and muttered "Yes, thank you," before turning to see Gaepora.
Gaepora stared at Link with steeled eyes of suspicion and brought his arm casually around Zelda, pulling her back even.
"Good first fight. Are you prepared to fight Pipit later?"
"Yes, Headmaster. Zelda was just telling me how bad this was," he said gesturing to his face, knowing they'd at least been caught on that level.
"Yes... I'm sure she was. I just wanted to check on you after that, but... you seem in good hands." There was a tense silence between all three of them.
Link bit his lip, which stung from the cut lip he'd forgotten about, too nervous to even look at Zelda. "Mhmm," he hummed, looking at the ground.
It seemed that Gaepora was the first to break from it. "You had me nervous this morning that you'd be late."
Link chuckled softly. "Yeah, Zelda woke me…" he cleared his throat again, stopping before going any further with that sentence and turned to her for help. She was fighting an amused grin, either at Link's squirming, or at the thought of him accidentally filling in any details of that sentence. She would absolutely be the least helpful person right now.
Gaepora looked between the two one more time before kissing Zelda's hair. "My daughter," he said slowly, emphasizing the word, his eyes on Link, "It's days like today that I'm quite glad you didn't choose Knighthood." He took a step back. "Well, carry on with… whatever it was that you two said you were doing."
"Just heading back, sir," Link said, walking as quickly as possible.
Zelda hurried alongside him, giggling madly. "That was horrible! You did horrible!"
"You didn't jump in with anything."
"Oh Goddess," she said, covering her mouth as she giggled, "I almost just kissed you without knowing my father was watching."
Link wrapped his arm around her shoulder, though this was something they'd done often and wouldn't cause a second glance. "You'd kiss me even with this cut lip?" he asked playfully.
Zelda shook her head and looked up at him with pitiful eyes. "You just look so helpless, you know? Like a sad Remlit that just needs a hug."
Link scoffed and pushed her off of him. It only caused her to laugh some more as they reached the others.
Pipit was hurrying over to Karane and Fledge when they all rejoined each other's company.
"I'll see you next round!" Pipit laughed.
"Nice," Karane asaid sarcastically. "This will go on forever if training in the Sparring Hall is any indicator."
And long after Karane won her match, she was correct. Link and Pipit's match against each other was still going long after Groose had beat Cawlin.
The two friends were at the disadvantage of knowing the other too well. After all, for about four years, they'd been the other's primary sparring partner. When Link moved, Pipit knew what his plan was. And though Link had the upper hand in terms of skill, Pipit was resilient and relentless, refusing to quit at any point. Perhaps the reason the fight lasted so long was something deeper, a subconsciously friendly desire not to knock the other out of the contest.
After the fight had gone on between the two with relatively no progress, Eagus stepped in and motioned for them to step back. "I was warned this might happen with you two. We need to move on, so the next connecting hit, no matter what it is, wins. Go."
Eagus stepped out of the area and Pipit turned to Link, looking him over. Link had a shield. He was done for.
But Link noticed his gaze and took the shield off his arm and tossed it to the ground, swinging his sword in his hand as he nodded to Pipit. If anyone deserved an even fight, it was Pipit.
They took their time, focusing more on technique to avoid getting hit than anything. But when Link jumped back from one of Pipit's wider swings, he used the moment to land a hit on Pipit's side and stepped back.
Pipit cursed, but turned to Link and shook his hand before whacking him lightly in the head. Link chuckled and pushed Pipit away from him as they went back.
"At least we get to see you fight Groose," Pipit said, out of breath.
"Fun."
"Shhh!" Zelda hissed as they walked up next to her. "Karane is against Tirra next."
Pipit sat down. "Why does that mean we have to be quiet?"
"She needs to focus if she's going to beat Tirra."
Pipit looked around. "You know she's not near us, right?"
But no matter where she was, Karane was no match for Tirra. And despite how close Link and Karane were, he had no doubt that it was Tirra who'd come out on top. Karane joined them to watch the rest of the fight between Saffron and Hawke.
"Saffron's got this," Karane bet, still out of breath.
"If this were a flying contest, she'd win any day," Link said. "But I've seen Hawke fight, and he's going to be the one to beat for this whole thing."
Link wasn't wrong. Saffron lost, and Hawke would fight Tirra while Link fought Groose. He wanted to be able to watch their match. It would let him fight one of the two best young fighters he knew.
"Hey," Zelda said, grabbing him before he could stand. "Don't think about Groose or all the awful things he's done."
"Thanks for making me think about all that."
"Do you want me to cheer for him? It would really throw him off his game!"
Link laughed and stood. "Nah. I'd rather fight him at his best."
Rolling her eyes, Zelda sat back down. "You're too chivalrous, Link. You'll make a sickeningly good Knight."
He snickered and moved into the sparring area and faced Groose, who was tauntingly fixing his hair.
"Ready to lose?" he called.
Link rolled his eyes and raised his sword as his answer, leaving his shield behind to give his arm a break. Besides, he had an inkling that he might need two free hands to fight Groose.
The two fought for a short time, and Link was winning with ease, much to Groose's dismay. His attacks grew angrier and more aggressive until Groose's fist began to land several hard hits on Link's body, though that kind of move resulted in a loss of points, even on armor. Link narrowly missed Groose's angry fist swing directly at his head. Several warnings to Groose from Eagus gave Link a moment to back up a safe distance.
When Groose moved at him again with a mischievous glint in his eye, Link knew he had to end this as fast as he possibly could. Groose wasn't against cheating.
With a quick feint, Link maneuvered just under Groose's blade and swung his blunt sword into Groose's armor, sending Groose stumbling to the ground. He placed his sword on Groose's neck and glanced at Eagus, who nodded and stood to announce Link the winner.
But Groose screamed out in a raging sound of frustrated anger and kicked at Link's knee with as much force as he could. Link cried out and collapsed, clutching his knee in pain. He rolled away, sure to put a safe distance between him and Groose before he could make any other movements.
Eagus grabbed Groose by the collar and pulled him away to Headmaster Gaepora while Instructor Owlan went to Link.
Pipit, Karane, Fledge, and Zelda reached him first, though.
"Are you okay?" Owlan said, pushing Fledge and Zelda aside as he knelt at Link's knee.
"I'm fine," Link grumbled, wanting to move away from everyone's prying eyes. "It doesn't hurt."
But as Owlan rolled the leg of Link's pants, his hiss of pain and the already large, discolored purple boot mark over his kneecap said otherwise.
"I'll kill him," Zelda said, going to stand.
Link managed to catch her wrist and shot Karane a cautionary look, one that told her not to let Zelda walk away, before turning back to the blonde. "No, Zel, you should stay here with me."
She shot him daggers. "You have plenty of help. I can fix this."
When Link accidentally tightened his grip on her as he winced in pain when Owlan moved his leg, Zelda sighed and knelt down, though her eyes kept darting at Groose and her father.
"This will hurt for a moment, Link," Owlan warned as he strategically placed his hands around Link's kneecap.
Link let go of Zelda and nodded. Owlan pushed the kneecap over with a snap, and Link bit back a loud grunt of pain.
Owlan shook his head. "You shouldn't fight on this."
Horwell appeared behind the other instructor with a thick, green potion in a bottle. "Don't even bother, Owlan. This boy has never listened to me a day in his life regarding injuries. He'd rather tear his leg off mid-fight than step down. It took long enough, but I think I've finally learned."
"Here," Pipit said, taking off his belt. "Tie this right above your knee. Your leg will go numb, but you'll be able to get through some of the next round."
"Horrible advice," Owlan said with a sigh.
"He'll take it anyway," Horwell said, handing Link the potion. "It won't do much but it should take the edge off the pain. I don't think your opponent will mind."
Pipit pulled Link to his feet and Link limped off to the side, glancing at the other fight to see who was winning. Tirra and Hawke were still going at it, and both were fighting as if for their lives. It was aggressive, and matched well. But Link looked away, needing the time between matches now more than ever.
Eagus ran over to where Link was trying to walk around, though his limp was obvious.
"You can forfeit and you won't risk a serious injury. You've beaten your class, your scores are better than theirs… you can quit."
"Shouldn't you be helping Master Kos?" Link asked, trying to change the subject.
"I can't judge my own sister. Which means I can't judge your fight if she wins. That gives me more time to ask if you really should be doing this?"
"I'm fine. See?" he said, jumping from foot to foot. It sent pain down his leg every time, and he was sure his face showed it, but the more he did it, the less he could feel it. "People get injured every tournament. Look at Keet. Hawke almost took off his arm, or at least it looked it with all that blood."
Link looked at Zelda, but she was glaring at Groose and her father again. "Hey," he said, nudging her.
"He did it on purpose."
Discreetly grabbing her hand, he pulled her closer. "Leave it. It's fine."
Fledge looked around. "I don't even see his parents. There's no way he's going to be sent back home for that if they're not even here."
Gaepora came over to them. Groose was being led back to the Academy by a Knight. "He'll be punished for that." Gaepora's eyes went to Zelda's loose, barely noticeable hold on Link's hand and fought back a roll of his eyes. Not the time for him to bring that up. "Are you truly fine, Link?"
"Yes."
"You can quit."
Link scoffed. "I feel like I have three hearts. One hit won't kill me."
Gaepora patted his shoulder. and looked up at Master Kos' announcement of the winner. "Then you're up. It looks like you're fighting Tirra for the championship."
Link turned, surprised, and saw Tirra hurrying to him.
"You're hurt?"
"No," he said, assuredly.
"I can tone down how I fight and we can fight on even terms to keep this fair."
Link grinned his thanks. "Absolutely not, but thank you. I'm really fine. I've been looking forward to fighting you since I used to sneak into the Sparring Hall to watch you and Eagus."
Tirra nodded. "Okay, but you just say the word if you're hurt and I'll back right off."
"Don't go easy, Tirra," Link warned.
"I would never disrespect you, or the training you and my brother have done, by going easy on you without your permission, Link."
He followed her into the fighting area, leaving his shield again so he'd have a better sense of his own balance, and he tried to hide his limp. Master Kos was watching closely, and more diligently than before. Eagus was unofficially watching from the side, unsure who he wanted to win: his prodigy mentee, or his sister. Kos nodded when they both stood in place, ready.
"Fight!"
As he did with Eagus, Link let Tirra make the first move. Their swords clashed together several times, and it was clear that she was testing him. It wasn't the same kind of test that Eagus had done last they'd sparred. She wasn't looking with the eyes of a mentor, but ones of an opponent. She already knew his one weakness: his knee. But she tested his footwork, and he moved better than she'd expected for one in pain. She tested his speed. He was fast, and quick to block and parry. And it didn't take her long to realize that his skill was far beyond his year.
She swung her sword down hard, but Link's clashed against hers with equal force, connecting in a battle of strength as they fought to push the other back.
Normally, Link would have been stronger. It's all he spent his time doing for years. But he couldn't put as much weight on his leg and found his strength matched with hers.
Tirra finally maneuvered just enough to get the upper hand and pushed. Link staggered, but regained his footing in time to block another flurry of swings.
In a swift motion, Link was able to turn the tides in his favor, moving from defense to offence. With his mind focused on nothing else, he was able to forget the pain in his leg and to move more freely around Tirra.
She swung at him, and he rolled off to the side, coming back to his feet in time to cross blades again, though his leg shook with the effort the move had taken.
Both moved across the area far more than any other opponent had. They met again and again, sending one another stumbling off to the side and trying to press every advantage. On the ground, Link barely avoided a harsh blow to the head. On her feet, Tirra did everything she could to avoid losing her grip of her sword in Link's relentless assault.
Link hopped off to the side, his entire body tired and sore. He was finally feeling the full-force of pain in his knee, and he breathed heavily. Tirra was winded as well, holding her side where she'd taken a blow from the hilt of Link's sword.
They moved back together and metal rang out. Link ducked underneath her sword and crashed into her, pushing her arm away while spinning to catch himself on his feet as she fell. As if the world was moving slowly, he grabbed the sword in her hand and pushed her arm up with his own sword. The movement forced her own sword out of reach as she fell. With both swords in his hands, he spun to face her, crossing the swords at a safe distance from her neck.
Tirra laughed and stood slowly, offering Link her hand in congratulations.
Sound disappeared from Link's ears. He couldn't hear Master Kos call his win, or hear Tirra's verbal congratulations. All he could hear was his harsh, ragged breathing. He took her hand, and shook it before handing back her sword.
And then he felt half of Skyloft crash into him in celebration.
Sound returned all at once and the thundering cheers from the crowd threatened to deafen him.
"Quiet, quiet," Master Kos said as Eagus rejoined him. Tirra was at his side, smiling. Kos waited for Skyloft to quiet down before speaking again. "What a match! This is historic indeed! This is the first contest where an undergraduate Knight has taken the win. And from a veteren nearly ten years his senior! Link, congratulations. You earned this win."
Link nodded once and started to back away.
Master Kos returned his attention back to Skyloft. "That concludes the first round of fights! Now, would the established Knights come forward for your matchups?"
Link hobbled off to the river, ignoring the glares of several of his opponents. Glenn, Groose, Cawlin, and Stritch all watched with narrowed eyes as he passed to take a quick drink from the stream to soothe his dry throat.
He stood and turned just in time to catch Zelda as she threw herself against him. He stumbled backwards, but kept a tight hold on her, chuckling. He felt her discretely kiss his neck where her head rested. He squeezed her in response, but had to tap her waist. "My knee, my knee," he reminded her, feeling the sharp shooting pain up his leg.
"Sorry!" she gasped, letting him go.
Pipit, Karane, and Fledge piled onto him, clapping his back, rustling his hair. He laughed along with them and, when they'd given him enough space, he pulled off the grey tunic and chainmail, though he still had another looser shirt underneath that, letting his shoulders rest from the weight of it.
He sat down and stretched out his leg, still in disbelief. "I just won."
Pipit sat down and felt Karane all but jump on the two of them, dragging Zelda and Fledge with her. The five crashed in a pile down to the grass, laughing.
"We actually did it," Karane laughed. Being a first year, she had almost not expected to get past round one. But Link winning it all? That was unheard of.
He was glad of Karane's excited chatter. It gave him an opportunity to look at Zelda again. Her smile was unending, like this was the best thing that could have happened to her, and she hadn't been involved in any way. She caught him staring and turned, pride and affection were scrawled all over her face.
"You finally let me watch you fight," she whispered, putting her hand over his. She leaned closer to him, their sides pressing together. "I wasn't disappointed."
Link couldn't respond, couldn't find the words, really, as he stared at her, wanting nothing more than to kiss her. A big part of him screamed that they were just near their friends. That people would have to find out some day. But the other part cautioned him to weigh his actions. But the way she looked at him, the way he involuntarily found himself drawn towards her, the overpowering desire to just hold her...
"Why are you looking at me like that?" she laughed, but bit her lip as her smile faded from amusement into something much softer. From where he sat, he could practically hear her heart thumping against her chest.
"Hey!" Pipit said impatiently. They barely heard him. That was the moment it all clicked completely together for Karane: the moment she could see it in their eyes, not just their actions.
Link saw Zelda's look change to one of embarrassment and mild horror when she spotted her father and Eagus staring at them. Link followed her gaze and quickly scooted away from her, closer to Pipit. He let out a deep breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding and felt his good knee start to bounce anxiously.
"Father," Zelda greeted with an innocent smile as he and Eagus stopped in front of the group. Link looked up, less adept at masking his expressions, but well-versed in focusing on different ones. He grinned, thinking about his win.
Gaepora's suspicious eyes looked around the group. "Congratulations to you three, but especially you, Link."
"You took some good hits today," Eagus mused, craning to get a better view of Link's swollen lip as well.
Gaepora's fingers twitched when his eyes brushed over Zelda's hand resting on Link's. He gritted his teeth, berating himself for not noticing anything odd about them earlier. And with a promise to himself to see if his suspicions were true, or if today was just an emotionally-high day.
"Link," he finally managed. "You must be excited for your prize. It differed for your class than it would for the others, but I think you'll like it. Are you going to get that knee properly looked at now?"
"Yes, Headmaster," Link said, leg wobbling as he tried to get himself to his feet with a grimace.
Gaepora held out his hand to Link. "Pipit, help me get Link inside."
"I'm fine," Link insisted, though he accepted Gaepora's and Pipit's help.
Eagus laughed and headed back to the fighting area. "Oh, trust me, you'll feel it all later."
Link pointed to Eagus. "Don't lose before I get back out here."
Eagus scoffed, stopping to taunt Link with his wide, challenging arms. "Oh Link, I have absolutely no intention of losing at all."
Everyone laughed, and Gaepora motioned for Pipit to grab one side of Link while he supported the other. "Come on, I'll tell you about your prize inside."
Link glanced back at Zelda and made a face, annoyed that he needed to get any type of treatment. She grinned and crossed her arms as he walked away.
"Fledge, we'll meet you back over there. Okay Z," Karane said, pulling Zelda away from potential ears that might overhear. "I think it's time you start explaining a few things."
A/N: Disclaimeer: I don't know anything about serious knee injuries or their treatment. Don't try to wrap a belt around your leg at home. But whew, I might have gone slightly insane when writing this chapter. I created a legit bracket so I could keep track of everything and then didn't want to overload on fights, get some of that Knight Academy plot moving, but I also wanted to keep some fluff scattered, and I wanted to get the idea that Link can take a few hits and still get back up like in the game.
Reviwes: LINDINI200: Thanks! In the game, since Zelda gets Hylia's memories, I figure that since Link has Hylia's hero's spirit that he'd get some of that as well. Not quite the same thing with being the reborn Goddess and having a spirit, but creative liberties there hahaha! Draegor: Hahaha it brings me joy to stress people out! I think Gaepora gives off that vibe, but so do the other Zelda's fathers, like BOTW and I think Minish Cap is the other I'm tinking that gave off that vibe after the beginning, too. TeamChicken: Thank you! I do have vague plans for a sequel right now! Ellenar: Not that being a puddle sounds like the most fun existance, but yasss! Hahaha! Cosmo14: Oh, agreed that he's the most motivated. I don't know why I posted on AO3 and not here. It's a little more experimental: a non-game, love triangle with more violence and suggestive themes than my fics on here, so idk if that's still your style, which is totally fine. It's a different pen name, but it's on my profile here. Anyway! Thank you for being my accidental beta reader! I fixed that typo which was so sadly in the first few lines! Yeah, I replayed the beginning of the game before writing these last few chapters and realized that I had quite a bit that wasn't matching canon, but it was too late at this point. Gaepora's getting suspicious here! Hope that's some consolation for the awkward talk between them not happening in this chapter! Lol!